Monday, June 4, 2007

It seems as though the Sharapova-Schnyder match up yesterday has brought about a couple days worth of history lessons. Not only did the girls continue the 9-7 trend, but so too did the chair umpire continue a trend in the women's game for making poor decisions at key moments in tense moments. All which came at respective majors.

Case OneMaria Sharapova versus Patty Schnyder4th Round - 2007 French OpenAt 7-all in the third, Sharapova led 30-0 serving and vaulted a first serve onto Schnyder's side when the Swiss put her hand up mid-motion, letting her opponent know she was not ready because of crowd noise. But Sharapova would have nothing of it, and neither would the chair judge, Kader Nouni of France, awarding the point to the Russian, and - seemingly - the match.

Case TwoVenus Williams versus Karolina Sprem2nd Round - 2004 WimbledonYou all remember 2004, when Venus Williams struggled with Karolina Sprem in the 2nd round of Wimbledon. Sprem had taken the first set and the second was in a tie-break when Ted Watts, chair umpire for the match, called the score 2-2, ignoring a lines woman's call and mistakenly giving Sprem an extra point. The mistake was no doubt embarrassing, but would give Sprem an extra chance to fight back, and, eventually beat Venus 8-6 in the breaker.

Case ThreeJennifer Capriati versus Serena WilliamsQuarterfinals - 2004 US OpenIt was a couple months later when a weary Serena, remembering the Venus incident, argued with the chair umpire, Sandra de Jenkin, about a ball she overruled on the opposite sideline. Capriati would win the match later in the third, 6-4.

Oh, and I never made the connection that it was indeed Ms. de Jenkin who also made the infamous Henin-pressured overrule during the 2004 Aussie Open final. Jeez Sandra, 0 for 2.

Amateur Interpretations of a Professional Tour

An amateur's view can always reveal something different: On the professional tennis tour, it's hard to keep up with the daily drama, the wins, the losses and the off-beat commentary of the mostly socially ignorant girls and boys of the world-wide court. This blog attempts to keep up with all that, through an eye that's experienced only the televised world of tennis...a truly amatuer interpretation of a professional tour.